About

Michael James Castledine is a Canadian/Australian artist, designer, and educator. Born in Papua New Guinea and raised in the Bahamas by Scottish and American parents, his multidisciplinary and multisensory collaborative practice focuses on enriching spatial experiences to strengthen communities and connections to space and place. Currently based in Melbourne, Australia, Michael’s innovative approach to glasswork blends graphical elements with cutting-edge technology to create versatile solutions that transform our living spaces and revolutionizes the way we experience light and design. He continues to teach art and design in Melbourne along with showcasing his creative expressions in Australia and Canada as a dual citizen.

Drawing inspiration from new landscapes, colours, textures, and liminal narratives, he is always evolving as an artist to express the world around him through an intercultural lens. Recently returning to Melbourne, Australia, he continues to express his creativity through digital art, illustration, painting, sculpture, and photography. Formally trained as a graphic designer with a Master in Digital Media, he returns to the medium of glass to explore how light, depth, and colour can bring joy into homes, public and private spaces. From fusing to kiln forming, sandblasting, and stain painting, his craft is ever-expanding.

With over 25 years of international experience, Michael brings a strong critical thinking and human-centred approach to problem solving and storytelling. From architectural/spatial design and typography, wayfinding and XR (Extended Reality), he synthesises art, design, and craft to playfully blend mediums. This approach aims to discover the affordances of old and new environments.

Working with cities, studios, corporate and learning environments, he has established great collaborative partnerships and projects with clients such as Woods Bagot Architects, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the NBA, City of Guelph, and Keith Jones & Good Company.

His goal as an educator is to encourage collaboration — particularly the cross-pollination of ideas and communication, where collaborators are simultaneously teachers and learners, to apply these new learnings in unfamiliar situations. His approach supports conversations that provoke how artists and designers can challenge affordances through ideation and evolution of the craft. These methodologies start with understanding intuition and self-awareness to evolve towards collaborative critical thinking.

Artist Statement
I am interested in working with mediums and telling stories that explore the tactility and immersiveness of our senses. These enriched senses in turn provide enriched spaces. I am drawn to glass because it surrounds us, illuminates our history, provokes the future, and constantly evolves. Glass has this amazing power to change our perspective, often providing a reflective and philosophical mirror.

Let´s Collaborate

We are always looking to cross-pollination new challenges, conversations and creative expressions.